Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I knew he was trying to ease the awkward atmosphere with a light comment, but still—there was no winning against him in a battle of words. Seeing the state I was in and still saying I looked prettier… teasing me clearly brought him immense joy.

But the heart is such a fickle thing. Maybe it was because I was so happy to see his face again after so long—my eyes suddenly felt hot.

It felt like crying would mean I’d lost, so I pulled the scarf he’d wrapped around me all the way up, almost to my eyes. While hiding the emotions I couldn’t quite keep off my face, I still made sure to show my joy in my own way.

“How did you get here?”

“I told you I’d come pick you up, didn’t I?”

“That’s not what I meant—how did you actually come all the way here yourself?”

“I took a helicopter.”

“I mean… that’s not what I’m asking…”

If he’d only sent his aide to secretly escort me to Seoul, then if anything had gone wrong, he could’ve made up any excuse and avoided responsibility. But he came himself, fully aware of the risks. Now, I understood just how much of a decision that was.

“If there was a helipad, you should’ve let me ride a helicopter before too. Instead of that awful boat… I got so seasick even with medication…”

“Oh yeah? That bad?”

“What I mean is… it’s just… never mind.”

Grateful but embarrassed, and on the verge of tears for reasons I couldn’t explain, I kept blurting out nonsense. I knew they were just excuses, but it felt too awkward to be honest about my emotions. I could feel how far off my words were from what I really meant.

“Anyway, get in. We don’t have much time.”

But he ignored my rambling completely and pulled my arm toward the helicopter. As if he had no interest in listening to pointless talk, he simply shoved me inside.

“Hey, easy…”

Sitting in the innermost seat, I glared at him as I pushed his arm away. He hadn’t grabbed me hard, but I was annoyed at how perfectly he shut down my little complaints like they were childish whining.

But Shin Chi-woo didn’t stop there. As if amused by the narrowing of my eyes, he chuckled and shifted his gaze to my belly. Then, with an annoyingly sweet voice, he said,

“Ah, that’s right. My baby’s in there… Sorry, Daddy didn’t mean to scare you.”

Even though this whole thing was just a fake setup, the fact that Shin Chi-woo could actually say something like that—I seriously felt like losing my mind.

“It won’t take long. Just hang in there a little.”

“……”

“You’re not alone, so you have to be careful.”

Unless I ran away to some faraway place where no one knew me and started a new life, it was now a fact that Seo Wan-yi and Shin Chi-woo were deeply involved. And not just that—there was even a baby conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit between them.

I was too dumbfounded by Shin Chi-woo’s nonsense to even reply, so I pretended to survey the inside of the helicopter instead.

“It’s not too tight, is it?”

“No, it’s fine.”

The bob-haired woman came over to my side, put the headset over my ears, and buckled the seatbelt for me. I turned my head toward the door, thinking we’d take off as soon as Shin Chi-woo boarded, but then I saw something amusing.

Since the bob-haired woman and I had gotten off, the ballerina would now have to drive the car back over the mountain. Shin Chi-woo was standing beside the SUV I had arrived in, talking with her through the driver’s side window.

Hmm…

I was curious about what the two of them were discussing, but from where I was sitting, I couldn’t hear a thing. On top of that, the helicopter had powered on, and the engine noise was deafening, so all I could do was stare curiously at them.

I wasn’t watching them for long when Shin Chi-woo turned toward the helicopter. The SUV, with the ballerina behind the wheel, started moving in the opposite direction.

As Shin Chi-woo strode confidently toward the helicopter, the bob-haired woman sitting next to me suddenly moved seats. My gaze followed her as she shifted into the co-pilot seat next to the pilot.

Wait—if she’s sitting in the front seat, then…

“Take off.”

“Yes, sir.”

Shin Chi-woo climbed into the helicopter and buckled himself in with practiced ease. Once he put on the headset and was ready, the helicopter lifted off the ground, and I went completely stiff—but for an entirely different reason.

Excuse me… why are you sitting there?

There were six seats in the helicopter: the pilot and co-pilot seats in front, and four seats in the back arranged face-to-face.

So why, of all places, did Shin Chi-woo sit directly across from me? If this were a train, he’d be in the backward-facing seat, which some people found uncomfortable. It made no sense.

This wasn’t a business-class airplane with extra space—it was a helicopter. From a broad-shouldered man’s perspective, it was downright cramped.

If he had just sat in the empty seat beside me—or even sat diagonally across—it wouldn’t have been so overwhelming. There were three other seats available, so why, why, why sit right in front of me?

“……”

The sky outside was beginning to show the first hints of dawn. The inky blackness was slowly bleeding red. But I couldn’t even spare a thought to marvel at my first time in a helicopter. I was too tense. Shin Chi-woo, seated across from me, was staring straight at me without the slightest attempt to hide it.

What is he even… Is there something on my face? Unbelievable.

Pretending not to notice his gaze, I stared endlessly out the window. At least the outside world was getting brighter. It gave me something to pretend to be interested in, because I had no idea where else to look.

Another small blessing: even with the headset on, the helicopter’s noise wasn’t completely muted, which helped ease the awkward silence just a little. But that didn’t mean this situation, which felt like sitting on thorns, was getting any more comfortable.

…Being too tall must be a pain too.

With those long legs folded up in a tight space, he probably wasn’t that comfortable either. At this point, I actually wished he’d just spread his legs wide.

Both of us were sitting upright, knees aligned like parallel lines. Because of that, our knees kept threatening to bump into each other, and I had to focus all my energy to keep still.

Ugh, this is driving me nuts.

I sat with my back ramrod straight and tried to sink into the seat as deeply as possible. Since I couldn’t push the seat back, I had to pull my body back as much as I could just to avoid touching him. Staying perfectly still was exhausting.

With my whole body tensed and my head turned to one side, my neck and shoulders started to ache. I wanted to turn the other way, but doing so would be completely pointless.

Eventually, I gave up and subtly shifted my shoulders, turning my head the other direction. I glanced at the ceiling of the helicopter, then turned back toward the window—only for my eyes to meet his again.

…Great.

Our gazes locked, and the air between us turned awkward in an instant. Then I noticed Shin Chi-woo’s eyes drop downward. Curious where he was looking, I glanced down and realized it.

Ah… right. The ring. I’d completely forgotten I was still wearing it on my left ring finger.

It was the only item I had that wasn’t mine, and because of that, it wasn’t something I could trade away. It also fit perfectly and had a simple band-like design, so I’d ended up keeping it on without thinking much of it.

But when Shin Chi-woo looked back up at me after seeing the ring, something felt entirely different. Up until we boarded the helicopter, he’d been acting like the same person I remembered. But now it was as if someone else entirely was sitting across from me.

“……”

Would it make sense to say the temperature in his gaze had changed? I know it sounds strange, but the way he looked at me—the texture of his expression—felt different.

I quietly slipped both hands into the pockets of my padded coat. He was staring so openly at me that it felt weird to take the ring off in front of him.

Part of me also didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. I hadn’t kept the ring for any deep or meaningful reason, so I hoped he wouldn’t use it as ammo to start something.

I didn’t do anything wrong… so I should be fine, right?

Still, the first thing I’d do once we landed was give the ring back. The way he was staring at me, anyone who didn’t know better would think I’d stolen it.

I couldn’t bear to meet that intense gaze anymore. Wanting to avoid him, I pretended to feel drowsy, closed my eyes, and lowered my head slightly.

“……!”

But the moment I closed my eyes, something hard gently tapped my shin. It was clearly the tip of a shoe, so I opened my eyes and looked forward.

I wasn’t sure if he’d bumped me by accident while crossing his legs or if he was pretending to cross them just to mess with me. But one thing was obvious—Shin Chi-woo was leaning back, one elbow on the armrest, chin in hand, legs crossed, and was blatantly admiring me.